yonny

Agree. I'm amazed guys would advocate that as an effective tactic. No one is disregarding free-lining in the right situation, but chucking baits 50 yards with no lead just doesn't make any sense at all to me.

Agree 100%. I've tried all sorts in the past when it comes to bait but my successes have had little to do with bait. Confidence and drive are more effective attributes than any bait can ever be imo. That said, I will always check out any new ideas and theory's in the bait world. It's all part of the never ending learning curve that is carp angling.

So they say mate😉 Tbh I don't see how their requirements can change that much prior to and after spawning. After all, they're already re-building their ovaries and eggs just weeks after spawning. By the start of winter they're full of eggs.

I'm not sure it's an attractor as such but they do need salt and if it can be applied in a pre-baiting situation (i.e. with food) it can certainly help establish an area in the longer term.

Very effective but that is due to the amino content (digested worms) rather than pH change. Imo a food signal will always be more effective than a simple investigation trigger. Certainly in any baiting situation anyway. For singles and zigs the jury is out.

@elmoputney on paper your theory should work but it might be tricky to execute. You're spot on that the pH shift is simply the investigation trigger, but the amino liquid will serve as a feeding trigger, and the maggots simply can't be ignored. I have played with massively over-flavoured pop ups for their local pH changing properties but only in winter. I haven't pursued pH change as it applies to mass baiting as imo any soluble high amino solution will serve as a better attractor. You need to watch your sharpened hooks buddy. The lower the pH, the quicker the hook points will be attacked, so make sure either you protect the points very, very well with wax, or use a hook straight from the pack.

Cant be compared bud. The proper jobs aren't cork balls. Cork balls are always better imo, but there are occasions when you need a standard pop up, that's where the proper jobs come in for me.

The yellows filter the brighter colours on the spectrum of light during dawn and dusk but at night there is no light to filter. You'd be even more blind Elmo. They are great for dawn and dusk though.

I feel for you mate. 6 days ago I lost my dad to cancer also. Puts things into perspective doesnt it. It's a hole that will never be filled. Head up. Keep going.

If my posts help anyone then that makes my happy buddy😁👍

I realise I'm droning on now so I apologise but that has nothing to do with this conversation either. No disrespect intended buddy. I also learned my trade from the bottom up. And I'd put my watercraft skills up against most. My point is free-lining at 30 yards is not an effective use of time on the banks in 99% of situations. Nothing more.

It's a great forum. Its quiet recently but the members are great. Always good for a debate.

I would add that has nothing to do with free-lining. That is fishing with a lead. I didn't say anything about big leads or bolt rigs.

Exactly buddy. I have free lined many times mate, and have caught a carp or two in my time. But I can tell you now I will not be trying to free-line at 30 yards. I consider myself an angler so will not be trying something so (what I consider to be) ineffective as that.

You seem to have developed a speech impediment buddy. I didn't say you need a heavy lead to get a bite. I said "with no lead to pull the hook home and no tension on the clutch to do the same, 30 yards out, you were lucky to hook it". And how would you know when to strike with no float and no lead to pull the hook home? He wasn't float fishing. He was free-lining. Floats have nothing to do with this. They are legends so I wont hear a bad word said against them. But you have to bear in mind these are the guys that spent 25 years fishing a 3 acre lake with 100 carp in it and struggled to catch 1 fish some years. They were learning as they went along. Pioneering. They used par boiled potatoes too but I wouldn't recommend them either. I can guarantee you that the younger of the guys mentioned (Rod, Yates etc) did not free-line at 30 yards in their later years.

Jesus H....... his heart must have been thumping out of his chest!!!!

I have some for that very reason buddy😅

Tbh @Pete Springate's Guns (I still think that's the best user name ever lol), I'd happily use any of the PJPU's.

There's a few that have done me well mate. Fishy Peach, Condensed Milk, Devils Dung/Cheese, obviously the Pineapple/Butyric, and I use the none flavoured ones for suspending alternative hookbaits too. But the one that's consistently caught me the rare/special fish is the Strawberry Scopex. There was a very rare double row lin I had a couple of years ago on them, it hadn't been out for 3 years. A pal of mine was trying to target it so I put him onto the Strawberry Scopex and guess what - he caught it. I am of the opinion that buoyancy/performance and colour are actually more important in a pop up than flavour, but there is no doubt that Strawberry Scopex has something about it. I've had a few rare'n's on them.

Imo that stuff is no good. The buoyancy is very poor in my experience. Agree, in that situation (with baiting) a cork ball food-bait cannot be beaten. I haven't been able to bait in winter this past couple of years so I have no problem using a decent off-the-shelf hi-viz hookbait. They are effective, no doubt.

Free-lining is great for stalking, when you can physically see the fish take the bait. But, with no lead to pull the hook home and no tension on the clutch to do the same, 30 yards out, you were lucky to hook it imo buddy.

Better than most. Proper Job Pop Ups are better (imo).

Agree.

Yeah, I know what you meant buddy. We only boil to add integrity to the bait and prevent nuisance species from whittling them down. That boiling process does denature that baits so if nuisance species aint a problem then go ahead.

Absolutely, 100%, downright LETHAL in winter.